Category: Special Occasion

Wow! May has just flown by. May is normally very important to the city to the south of me. It’s called “Memphis in May”. This year “Memphis in May” was boiled down to Beale Street Music Festival with bands and singers only the opening weekend and of course BBQ Festival at the Mid-End of May. The tickets to go to either of these events have always been hard to get, but this year they were extremely hard to find and expensive to the point of putting a person in debt to buy them. I didn’t even see any hype about the BBQ Contest which is just not normal. Winning the “Memphis in May” BBQ Championship used to mean something.

I remember a totally different “Memphis in May”. The ads would start in January. You would know who was coming for the Beale Street Music Festival by February. The cut date for the Food Contest which include Hamburger Masters and Hot Dog Eaters as well as BBQ Contest which included Ribs – Beef and Pork, Pulled Pork, Chicken, and Turkey Legs would be in Mid March. The games and other activities for the month are mapped out and widely advertised in April. Tickets are made and everything is gotten ready for “Memphis in May” in April.

The way it was – “Memphis in May” starts with a weekend filled with music called Beale Street Music Festival. You pay for a 1 or 2 day pass and get to enjoy Beale Street and the Great Concerts that come to play for the weekend. The second weekend is an art weekend that involves museum tours and tours through historic Memphis and on Sunday there is a showing of different forms of art in Tom Lee Park by the Grande Lady – The Mississippi River.

About the 15th of the month the Memphis of May BBQ Contests set up for the Big Competition, and on Friday of the third weekend they begin their fires and start their smokers to make the best BBQ in the world. It is normally set up in Tom Lee Park. On that Friday the people in the Food Contests have the day to practice before the competition on Saturday. You get to walk through and taste all the good food that is being prepared. You can get 1-3 day passes but you just can’t bring in your own food or drink. The competition would be on Saturday and the Awards would be on Sunday.

Since May has five weekends more often than not, we have a bike race and running marathons on the odd weekend. If there is no odd weekend then it would happen on the final weekend. On the Sunday of the last weekend, games and one-one contests are offered on Tom Lee Park leading up to an Symphony in the Park where you bring your blankets and coolers and wine/cheese and set upon the ground to let the music wash over you while the Mississippi rolls on by. Ending with a wonderful fireworks show over the Mississippi River done to a grand symphony.

I guess it really shows the times. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, people could get together and not have police guarding the outside. You could go to a park, sit on the ground, and listen to a symphony without having to worry about anything. Now, you can’t even go to a park without a gun or mace to defend yourself. It is really sad. It’s a really good thing that I know that God is in Charge of Everything, so I’m not worried. I just miss the old “Memphis in May”

The above poem says it all that a mother should be. A mother is a special type of woman. She’s not perfect, but tries as hard as she can to take care of the people in her realm of influence, to protect them from the outside as much as they can, and to teach them everything that their charges need to know to succeed in the world today. Some say that God shows His earthly love through Mother’s. I can happen to agree in most cases, but there are some cases where that is not the case I am afraid to say.

In the world today, A woman has to fill so many roles in the family and in Society. She is a woman of many talents. She is not only a Mother to the children, but sometimes a part time or even full time Bread Winner trying to bring in money for the family to live on, Family Schedule Keeper and Organizer, Meal Planner and Chef to shop for food and prepare that said food into good (no great) dishes that EVERYONE likes {if that is even possible}, a Scholar in furthering her degree in college or any training at all, and lastly and not least being possibly a Wife to her husband and keeping him happy.

The first mother was Eve as shown in Genesis:

Genesis 3:20

“Then the man – Adam – named his wife Eve,

because she would be the mother of all who live.”

The next big thing of Mother’s of the Bible are shown in the Ten Commandments in Exodus:

Exodus 20:12

“Honor Your Father and Mother, Then you will live a long ,

full life in the land the Lord Your Go3d is giving you.”

There are several Proverbs about Mothers even.

Proverbs 1:8

“My child, listen when your father corrects you,

Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.”

Proverbs 10:1

“A wise child brings joy to a father;

a foolish child brings grief to a mother.”

NOTE: Both JOY and GRIEF happen to each parent. The distinction is simply a poetic device.”

Proverbs 23:22

“Listen to your father, who gave you life,

and don’t despise your mother when she is old”

Proverbs 30:11

“Some people curse their father,

and do not thank their mother.”

Proverbs 30:17

“The eye that mocks a father and despises a mother’s instructions

will be plucked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by vultures.”

In Matthew, Jesus talks about who is His True Family-

Matthew 12:46-50

As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him?”.

Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you”

Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brother?”

The he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look these are my mother and brothers.

“Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

Jesus includes everyone who is doing the Father’s Will as part of His family so we are all connected in a spiritual way as well as our physical families.

Happy Mother’s Day. God Bless All You Mother’s out there. Take care and I’ll talk to you later.